As some of you know I have been a licensed Ham Radio Operator for the best part of 40 years. Many changes have accrued in this wonderful hobby over these years. Once it took a room full of refrigerator sized radios that glowed in the dark from the red hot filaments in the vacuum tubes. Now I can hold a cigarette pack sized radio and talk for miles using a solid state repeater system atop towers that seem to scape the clouds. Over the weekend the Ripley County Amateur Radio Club (RCARC) that I am a proud member of, remodeled it's repeater system located at the Career Center in Versailles, Indiana. This revamp produced a much extended coverage area. It has amazed me what a newly formed group of 30 or so people can achieve for themselves and our community. In time of disaster such as tornado, floods, earthquake, or attack this repeater system can maintain communication when others systems fail or are overloaded. I have posted a few photos of the system and images taken from the antenna perch of 275 foot high above the Career Center.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.demaree/UpUpAway#
See the RCARC's web page at http://441775.com
If you have a radio scanner you may listen to the day to day conversations on 441.775 Mhz.